The Hybrid
by Oncer15
Summary: Monica Evergreen was born to an Amity mother and a Dauntless father. Never before has there been a child like her, born of two factions instead of one. When she chooses Dauntless, will she have made the right choice, leaving everything she knows behind? Or should she have stayed with her mother in Amity? And how will a certain Dauntless leader influence the course of her life?
1. The Aptitude Test

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own the **_**Divergent Trilogy**_**. All of the characters and plot originally in the series belong to Veronica Roth. The new characters and plot in this story belong to me.**

**While this story takes place during the first book, this is Monica's story, not Tris's.**

**Also, there is no war or plan of war. While Divergents are a still a threat, no one is actively seeking them out.**

**This is my first **_**Divergent**_** fan fic, so please have an open mind!**

Today is the day of The Test. The Test will tell me which faction to choose. The Test will tell me where I belong, even though I don't feel I belong anywhere.

Because of my parentage, I am a unique case. My mother is an Amity and my father is a Dauntless. They met when they were 20 years old. My father was guarding the fence and my mother was working in the Amity fields. They met up with each other many times over the course of 6 months. My mother says that they fell in love. But, when she got pregnant with me, things had to change. There was no way that she could the situation, so she had no choice but to go to Amity leadership. The decision was made that he could be there when I was born, but I was to be raised in Amity and there was to be no name put under "Father" on my birth certificate. It was also decided that he was not to try to contact me for the time until I turn 16. Until I am no longer a dependent.

That is all I know because that is all my mother ever told me. She doesn't like to talk about him, but I can tell it's because she is still in love with him. I used to ask her questions about him all the time when I was younger, but she would always kindly decline to answer my questions. Maybe it's because she isn't allowed to tell me anything. I don't know.

There's never been anyone like me before. Thankfully, the facts about my conception have been classified, so no one other than my parents and the leaders of their respective factions know. I can't be picked on because of it. I'm afraid of what other people would say if they knew about me. But, thankfully, they never will. I hope.

As I enter the testing room, I start to become more nervous. None of us know anything about The Test, we're not allowed to. In the room, there is a metal chair, a computer, and a women from Abnegation. Because the Abnegation are public servants, all but two of the test administrators are from that faction. The other two are from another faction because you cannot be tested by someone from your faction.

When the woman sees me, she gives me a kind, but shy smile and motions for me to sit in the chair. I comply.

"Hello Monica, my name is Lorie and I will be administering your test today."

"Hello Lorie", I say with a grin. The Amity kindness and manners I was taught growing up show themselves, although reluctantly. I have never been great at being Amity. There have been many times in my life where I've been given the peace serum to calm me down from being too angry or aggressive. My faction even puts peace serum in the bread to make sure we stay all happy and chipper. It can get _so_ annoying.

"You will be going into a simulation where you will have to make some decisions. The decisions that you make will rule out your aptitude for factions. You will remain in the simulation until you get one result." As she explains this to me, she hands me small glass full of light blue liquid. I sniff it, warily.

"What is this?"

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you. This is just what will put you into the simulation. Good luck." She smiles kindly to me as I drink the serum. It tastes very bitter.

I close my eyes for just a moment, but when I open them again, the room is different. Lorie and the computer is gone. All that's left is me and the chair in a room full of mirrors. Not knowing what else to do, I get up and look around at the multiple copies of my reflection. All of a sudden, I hear a voice behind me.

"Choose." When I turn to look at her, I realize that it's Jeannine Matthews, the leader of Erudite.

"What?"

"Choose, before it's to late." She points behind me. When I turn, I see something that wasn't there before. Two bowls, one with some cheese and one with a knife. After only a moment of hesitation, I grab the knife. I don't have a good feeling, and if something is going to hurt me, the knife is the best thing to have.

Suddenly, there is a loud, threatening growl behind me. Jeannine is gone, but a vicious looking dog has taken her place. Despite my upbringing, I am glad I chose the knife.

The dog has begun to slowly, but menacingly make its way towards me. I crouch down to, what I think is, a menacing stance and, once the dog is mere feet in front of me, I lunge. I pounce on the dog's back and sink the knife into its side. And then it's over.

I bolt upright in the chair and I am back in the testing room. Lorie has returned, so I must be awake.

"It's alright dear, it's over." She runs a comforting hand across my back as I try to catch my breath. I can't believe I killed a dog. Part of me can't help but think how disappointed my mother would be, but the other part of me can't help but feel pride. As horrible as it sounds, it felt kind of good to harm something.

"What was my result?"

"Dauntless."

"Dauntless…" It know makes sense. Why I killed the dog and why I felt good doing it. I must be more like my father than I thought. The father that I've never known.

"Now, go home and get a good night of deep thought and rest. Tomorrow you decide the rest of your life. But remember, you only get to choose. Once you choose, there's no going back. Good luck to you Monica."

"Thank you", I say as I leave the room, dumbfounded. I've always known that I don't belong in Amity, but do I really belong in Dauntless?

After dinner that evening, my mother sent me off to bed with the usual hug, kiss, and "I love you". Not once that evening did she ever ask about The Test. Perhaps she thought it would be unkind and unthoughtful to ask about such a delicate matter.

When I get to my room, I just lie there for a while, thinking. I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow. Am I too kind to leave my mother, like my upbringing would tell me, or am I too brave to stay, like my test indicated. Hopefully, I can figure it out by tomorrow. There can be no regrets, no matter what I choose because, like Lorie said, once the choice is made, there is no going back. Am I kind or am I brave. At the moment, I am nothing more than being very, very confused.

**Author's Note**

**I know that it's kind of slow and bad for a first chapter, but it should get better as I get more into the story. If you can, please write a review and tell me what you think, for reviews give me more reason to write. Constructive criticism is openly welcomed and greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading! **


	2. The Choosing Ceremony

**All rights belong to Veronica Roth.**

"Wake up sunshine!"

I've never understood how my mother does it. No matter the hour of the day, whether it's the crack of dawn or late in the evening, she is always her kind and chipper self. It is particularly baffling on this morning. The morning of my choosing ceremony. Even when I'm sure she knows of the possibility that I will not choose Amity today, she continues to be the happiest person I know. It is a quality of hers that I have always admired, even if it gets me up at an ungodly hour every day.

When I finally get downstairs, my mother has already set the table with whole wheat toast, an assortment of fruits, and water, the traditional Amity breakfast. As we eat, we have our usual morning discussion of how we slept and how progress in the fields is going. It is then that I realize that this is something I would really miss, should I leave Amity. It's so easy and comforting and normal. I'm not sure if I can leave this now.

"Monica." I looked up at my mother as she pulled me out of my daydream. When I saw that she had a kind, but solemn look in her eyes, I knew what she wanted to talk about.

"Yes Mom."

"I love you sweetheart. And I want you to know that I will always love and support you, no matter what you decide."

"Thanks Mom, I love you too." We hugged as tears began to well up in my eyes.

After we finished clearing the table, we left for me to go choose the rest of my life.

When we arrived at The Hub we went to go sit in our section with the rest of the Amity faction. No one looks sad or nervous despite the fact that some of us may not return to our faction. I guess that's just the Amity spirit, as my mother likes to call it.

When Marcus Eaton takes the stage, everyone becomes silent. Abnegation is hosting the Choosing Ceremony this year and Marcus is their leader. He begins his speech about the importance of this day and what it signifies, not only for us, but our society as a whole. I am not really listening to the speech and more just looking at Marcus. Recently, Erudite released a rumor that Marcus beat his son and that's why he changed factions two years ago. Even though it's against Amity beliefs, I can't help but listen to the rumors. I hope that they're not true because Marcus seems like a nice man. I don't refocus on his speech until near the end.

"When you all leave this room, you will no longer be dependents, but full-fledged members of our society. Faction before blood."

"Faction before blood.", we all murmur back to him. This is the ideal that our society relies on. Once you choose your faction, there is no going back. This is the foundation of our community and it is believed that it must be upheld at all costs.

Marcus then starts to call us up one by one to make our choice. He is reading the names in reverse alphabetical order, so it will be a while before I must choose. I'm still unsure of what choice I will make. So I just sit there in thought until it is my turn.

"Monica Evergreen."

I rise from my seat and, after looking at my mother, I go up to the stage. I take the knife that Marcus hands to me and make a cut in my palm. As I allow time for the blood to pool in my hand, I look around the room. I don't know where it comes from, but when I look from the reassuring smile of my mother to the group of Dauntless, I instantly know my decision. I turn back to the bowls and let a drop of my blood fall and sizzle on the hot coals.

"Dauntless." Immediately after Marcus makes the announcement, the Dauntless erupt in applause and cheers. I head down to the Dauntless section to take my place with my new faction. I take one last look at my mother, who still has a smile plastered on her face, although it does not quite reach her eyes.

I am not kind.

I am brave.


	3. The Train

**Since the last chapter was on the short side, I've decided to give you all two chapters at once to make up for it.**

**Now would be a good time to mention that, to write this story, I will be using some elements from the book and some from the movie. For example, Eric will be portrayed as he is in the movie, but I will be writing the fights (pairings and order of appearance) as they are in the book.**

**I (unfortunately) do not own **_**Divergent**_**. Veronica Roth does.**

After the last person chooses, it's time to leave. Dauntless exit first. Once we reach the stairs, everyone begins to run. Everyone around me begins to laugh and shout. By the time we reach the ground floor, I am exhausted. I begin to worry. If I'm already tired, what's going to happen when I get to Dauntless? The Abnegation girl next to me looks tired too. I can already tell that we will both be the underdogs in initiation. Rumor has it that there haven't been any Amity transfers that have survived Dauntless initiation and not many Abnegation transfer to Dauntless to begin with. Despite this fact and the burning in my muscles and lungs, I refuse to fail.

When we get outside, Dauntless spread out on the street, getting in the way of vehicles and other people trying to pass by. This feeling is exhilarating! I've never done this before. I mean, sure I've run before, but nothing like this. In Amity, we usually only run between the trucks and the fields while farming. But, this is running just for the sake of running. And I've never had more fun in my entire life that I am at this moment. I follow the Dauntless around a corner which is when I hear a very familiar sound: the sound of the train. It is then that I realize the first test in initiation: we have to jump on the train.

All of the Dauntless-born initiates are used to doing this, since I'm sure they've done it most of their lives, so they all pile in until only us transfers are left. I run ahead alongside the train car with a few of the other transfers, reach up, grab the side of the train, and throw myself in sideways. I'm not that tall or strong, but I manage to do it. I made it in! So far, so good. Seconds after I stand, a girl from Candor jumps in and bumps into me.

"Sorry." She says, sincerely, but out of breath.

"It's okay."

Moments later, she reaches outside of the car and helps the Abnegation transfer get in.

"You okay?" she asks her.

She nods.

"I'm Christina", the Candor girl says to us and then holds her hand out for me to shake.

"I'm Monica", I say as I shake her hand. We then glance at the other girl and she tells us that her name is Beatrice. We hold out our hands and she reluctantly shakes them, unsure of what to do since shaking hands isn't and Abnegation practice.

Wait. An Abnegation girl named Beatrice? That's when I realize that she is Beatrice Prior, Andrew Prior's daughter. Andrew Prior is one of Abnegation's council members. I think back to the Choosing Ceremony and remember that her brother, I think his name was Caleb, transferred to Erudite. I can't image how hard it must be for Mr. and Mrs. Prior, to have both of their children leave them. Then I think about how hard it must be for my mother to lose me, her only child, and it doesn't make me feel much better.

Beatrice suggests that we sit down, since it can be very easy to fall down while standing on a moving train. Christina and I agree and we all sit. In order to try to keep my mind off of the guilt I feel for leaving my mother, I decide to look around and see how many transfers we have.

There are eleven of us. There's one transfer from Abnegation: Beatrice. Five transfers from Candor: Christina and four others, three guys and one girl. The other four look pretty big and strong. I decide that it would be wise to keep my eye on them. There's three from Erudite, two guys and one girl. One of the boys also looks very big, strong, and intimidating. I should watch out for him. The other two don't seem so intimidating, but I'll watch out for them anyways, just in case. The intimidating boy and the girl seem very close, like they're dating, but I can't be sure. There was a third boy from Erudite, but he didn't make it onto the train. He will be factionless. I feel a flicker of sadness for him, but I do not dwell on it. The last two transfers are from Amity: myself and a boy named Danny. I don't know him very well.

"They're jumping!"

Beatrice and I look up. I've been sitting on the floor of the car in a small ball thinking for, well, I don't know how long. I assume that Beatrice has been doing the same.

When we look up, we look towards where Christina is pointing and we see that the Dauntless-born are jumping onto a roof. The train tracks are seven stories high and there is a large gap in between the tracks and the roof. This is a daredevil jump and, with one wrong move, you'll be dead. It's terrifying, but at the same time, the thought is kind of exhilarating.

"We have to jump onto the roof?" says the other Candor girl.

"Yeah, because that makes perfect sense Molly, jump out of a train and onto a roof", says one of the Candor boys.

"Well, this is kind of what we signed up for joining Dauntless Peter." At least now I know two of their names: Peter and Molly.

"Well I'm not doing it!" I look behind me and I see Danny, shaking his head, crying.

"Danny, you have to, or else you'll be factionless. Come on, it'll be okay." My Amity compassion immediately pops its head out at seeing Danny, crying and scared.

"No, it won't be okay! I'd rather be factionless than dead!" He cries as the rooftop starts to get closer.

"We can't force him", Beatrice says and, reluctantly, I agree with her.

Christina holds her hands out to Beatrice and I. "I don't think that I can do it unless someone drags me". We both take her hands and Beatrice counts to three. On three, we jump out of the train. I feel a moment of weightlessness, almost like flying, and then I hit solid ground and gravel. I feel pain in my legs, for those are what hit the ground first. I also notice some small tears in my yellow skirt, but nothing too major.

"Well, that was fun", Christina says, in between giggles.

I have a feeling that Christina will fit in well here with the other thrill seekers of Dauntless. Beatrice and I are brushing the gravel off of our clothes. When I finally stand, I look around at the other initiates. All of the initiates made it, except for Danny. Once again, I feel sorry for him as my Amity instincts kick in.

Once we all are back on our feet, we all make our way to one side of the roof, where there is a group of people waiting for us. There's one man standing on the ledge of the roof. Very Dauntless of him. He is tall and seems to have a muscular build, which I'm guessing is important for a Dauntless member to have. He has short blonde hair, cold blue eyes, and two black piercings above his right eyebrow as well as one in each ear. He has a stern, serious, and cold look on his face. Too many, it would appear to be intimidating, but I find it to be a bit attractive. Wait, what? I've never found a boy to be attractive before. None of the boys at Amity provoked my interest. But, for some reason, this guy does. Strange. He refocuses my attention when he begins to speak.

"Listen up! I'm Eric. I'm one of your leaders." He's a leader? That probably means he's off limits. Why am I thinking these things? Curse Amity and their free love lifestyle! "Several stories below us is an entrance to the compound. If you want to get into Dauntless, this is the way in."

"We just jumped and now they want us to jump again?" Christina whispers to Beatrice and I.

"Is there water at the bottom or something?" one of the Erudite boys asks.

Eric smirks at him before answering. "Who knows? I guess you'll have to find out." He pauses. "Or not." After a moment of silence he says, "Well someone has to go first. Who's it going to be?"

We all stand around looking at each other, begging those around us to go first so we don't have to. After a few moments of hushed murmuring, Beatrice says, "Me", and then walks up to the ledge.

As she approaches it, Eric jumps down and moves out of her way. She pauses for a moment to take of her long coat off.

"All right Stiff, take it off!" Peter says. "Put it back on." he says, quieter. He and some of the others begin to chuckle. I can already tell that I'm not going to like Peter at all.

After she takes her coat off, she carefully gets up onto the ledge. She pauses again, I guess to catch her breath and get used to the idea that she's about to jump off of a roof into the unknown.

"Today initiate", Eric says. Really? She's about to jump off a roof into who knows where and you want her to hurry up? Wow, what a jerk. Suddenly, he is starting to seem slightly less attractive.

Beatrice takes one last deep breath and steps off of the roof. Christina and I, along with a few of the others, gasp. After a few moments, I hear a noise. It sounds like she fell into a net. That must be what's at the bottom. Eric then checks his watch. Seconds go by before he says, "Okay, whose next?"

Before I can stop myself, I step forward and say that I will go. If a girl from Abnegation was the first jumper, I will be the second. She and I will be the underdogs here, so we have to do something to prove ourselves worthy of Dauntless. She has just taken her first step to doing this, and now I will take mine.

I approach the ledge and get ready to step up on it, but Eric grabs my arm and stops me.

"You're Amity, huh?" I thought that fact would be obvious, given what I'm wearing. I wan't to make a snarky response, but I decide against it and just nod.

"Are you aware that no Amity has ever survived our initiation before?"

"Yes, I am."

He smirks at me and then says, "We'll see how long you last". He then takes a step closer and whispers, "Personally, I hope you make it. It would be a shame to make you factionless. The factionless sector is a dangerous place for a pretty thing like you". He steps back, leaving me stunned and waiting for me to jump.

He thinks I'm pretty? This leaves me confused, for I've never thought of myself in that way before.

I snap out of my stupor and get up onto the ledge. I take a deep breath and then, I jump. I gasp as I freefall several stories. However, I'm proud that I don't scream. It feels like the fall was over before it started because, before I know it, I hit the net. After I bounce a few times from the impact, I come to a stop in the net.

"First a Stiff, now an Amity? What's the world coming to?" I hear someone say.

Before I have time to think, someone pulls me out of the net and helps me stand upright. The man that helps me out of the net looks like he's the same height and build as Eric, except this man is tan with brown hair, brown eyes, and no piercings.

"What's your name?"

"Monica."

He turns away from me to look at the group of Dauntless in the room. "Second jumper, Monica!"

Then he turns back to me. "Welcome to Dauntless."

"Thanks."

Someone comes up behind me and leads me over to where Beatrice is.

"Hey Beatrice. We made it!"

"Yeah, we did. And it's actually Tris now."

"Tris. I like that."

As I look around the compound, I realize for the first time that I can really see myself being here. It's at that moment that I know: I will be Dauntless.


	4. The Tour

**Hi everyone! Thank you so much to those of you that have viewed/favorited/followed/reviewed this story so far. In the reviews, one of you asked me about my update schedule. I answered them in a PM, but I'll also answer it here so you're all aware. I don't have a set schedule. In about two weeks, I will be going off to college. For that whole weekend (Thursday into Monday), I have freshman orientation and then classes start that Tuesday. I imagine that I will be very busy during this time, adjusting to college life and such, especially during orientation/move-in weekend, so updates will probably become sporadic. However, until then, I'm going to try my hardest to give you all a new chapter every day or every other day.**

**I really believe in and have high hopes for this story. I'm very glad and grateful that so many of you do as well.**

**Another VERY IMPORTANT THING: I've made a last minute decision to add another initiate. His name is Matt and he's from Candor. This will be important later on.**

**One thing I forgot to mention is the dynamic between Eric and Four. They are not the best of friends, however, they are not enemies either. They are tolerant of and civil with each other. This becomes important later on in the story.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Once again, Veronica Roth owns Divergent and I do not *sad face*.**

Once we have all jumped, we all convene in one large group. Standing in front of us is the man that helped me out of the net and a woman. They look to be about the same age.

The man says, "Dauntless-born go with Lauren. Transfers stay with me."

"Follow me. I assume _you_ don't need a tour of the place." The Dauntless-born follow the woman, Lauren, through a set of double doors off to the side. After they are all gone, our group has been diminished my half since, surprisingly half of us are transfers. I expected there to be more Dauntless-born than transfers, but both groups are even. That leaves eleven of us left. There is only one Abnegation and one Amity, me. The rest of us are from Erudite and Candor. The latter surprises me a little. I can't help but imagine that it must take a lot of bravery to be honest all of the time, but I guess that I wouldn't know.

After they all leave, the man addresses us. "Usually I work in intelligence, but for the next few weeks, I will be your instructor. My name is Four."

"Four? Like the number?" Christina asks.

"Exactly like the number."

"What happened, one through three were taken?"

Four slowly approaches Christina and leans his face very close to hers with his eyes narrowed.

"What's your name?"

"Christina", she squeaks.

"Well Christina, the first lesson you'll learn from me is to keep your mouth shut. If I wanted to listen to Candor smart mouths, I would have joined their faction. Do you understand me?"

"Yes." She says this so quietly, it's almost inaudible. I decide that it would be wise to be careful around him.

Four turns away and heads towards a set of double doors. The doors lead us into a large underground cavern. The walls are made of large, uneven blocks of rock.

"This is the Pit, the center of life here at Dauntless. Follow me and I'll show you the chasm."

He leads us over to the far right side of the Pit, which is significantly darker than the rest. The floor we are walking on turns into an iron bridge with a railing on only one side. Below us, the floor goes off at a sharp angle and there is a roar of a river. The water strikes the wall and sharp rocks at the bottom and sprays upward. There is a ledge made of white rock circling around the chasm starting at the edges of the bridge.

"The chasm reminds us that there is a fine line between bravery and idiocy!" Four shouts over the roar of the river. "A daredevil jump off this ledge will end your life. It has happened before and it will happen again. You've been warned."

Four then leads us into a large room: the dining hall. When we get there, everyone is already eating and absorbed within their own conversations. When we look for empty seats, Tris, Christina, and I find a mostly empty table near the side of the room. This leaves Tris sitting in between Christina and Four, while I'm on Christina's other side. In the center of our table there are platters of food. Some of them contain bread and vegetables, but the other contains circular pieces of meat. Tris and I both look at them confused, not knowing what to make of them.

"Have you two seriously never seen a hamburger before?" Christina looks at us with wide eyes.

"No, I've seen one, I've just never eaten one," Tris responds.

"Yeah, me too. In Amity, we don't eat the livestock, just what's grown in the fields."

Christina looks at me impassively. She then looks at Tris. "What about you?"

"Abnegation eat plain food. We consider extravagance to be self-indulgent and unnecessary."

"Wow, no wonder you guys left."

"Yeah, we left just because of the food," I say.

After we've been eating for a while, everyone around us begins to slam their cups on their tables. As the banging gets louder, I see a man approach the railing of a ledge above the dining hall. This man seems older than all the other Dauntless I've seen so far and he has dark skin. He stands at the railing waiting for the banging to cease. When it does, he speaks.

"Initiates, stand." We stand.

"You have chosen to join the warrior faction. Where we are tasked with the defense of this city and all its inhabitants. We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, and the courage it takes for one person to stand up for another. Respect that. Do us proud." As he leaves, the room erupts in applause. This is the first time since I've arrived in Dauntless that I really feel welcome here.

After dinner, Four disappears and leaves us with Eric. Eric leads us down a long series of hallways, although, he doesn't tell us where he's taking us. That feels unsettling to me. However, what feels more unsettling is why a Dauntless leader is being made responsible for a group of initiates. While we are walking, we are all silent, even though no one told us not to speak.

When Eric stops, he stops in front of a large wooden door, and we gather around him. "As you all know, my name is Eric and I'm one of your leaders. Here in Dauntless, we take the initiation process very seriously, so I volunteered to oversee your training."

This, like everything about him, makes me feel uneasy. I'm discovering that being around him makes me lose my focus and now I find out that I'll be around him all the time? This could be a problem.

"First, there are some ground rules. First, you have to be in the training room by eight o'clock every morning. Training will take place from eight to six, with one break for lunch. After six you are free to do whatever you like. You will also get some time off in between each stage of initiation. Second, you are only permitted to leave the compound if you are accompanied by a Dauntless member.

"Behind this door is where you will be sleeping for the next few weeks."

"Girls or boys?" someone asks.

"Both. Anyway, initiation is divided into two stages. We believe that preparation eradicates cowardice, which we define as the failure to act when faced with fear. Each stage is intended to prepare you in a different way. Stage one is primarily physical. We will push your bodies to the breaking point and teach you the form of hand-to-hand combat. Stage two is primarily mental/emotional. Once again, we will be pushing you to the breaking point. You will face your worst fears and learn how to conquer them.

"During the first stage of initiation we will be trained separately from the Dauntless-born initiates, but you will be ranked together."

"Why are we ranked?" asks the girl from Erudite.

Eric gives her a wicked-looking smirk. "Your rankings serve two purposes. The first is that your rankings determine the order you will select a job after initiation. There are only a few desirable positions available so, if you want a good job, plan on doing well here. The second purpose is that only the top ten initiates will be made members."

I feel like my heart has dropped into my stomach. We are all standing as still as statues.

"What?" Christina asks.

"There are eleven Dauntless born initiates and eleven of you. At the end of stage one, the bottom five initiates will be cut. The remainder will be cut after the final test.

There are twenty-two of us. That means that twelve, one more than half of us, will not become members. I can tell out of the corner of my eye that Christina is looking at Tris and I, but I cannot bring myself to look at them. My eyes are glued on Eric and will not move, waiting to see what bombshell he will drop on us next.

"What happens if we get cut?" Peter asks.

Eric replies with another smirk on his face. "Well, you'll leave the Dauntless compound and, since there's no going home to your families, you'll live factionless."

The Erudite girl clamps her hand over her mouth to suppress a sob. I've seen the factionless many times when I would go into the city for school. I remember them looking very sick and depressed and dirty wearing dirty clothes and always begging for food. I refuse to become factionless. I _will_ become a member.

"But, that's not fair!" Molly cries. She sounds angry, but she looks like she's about to break down and cry. "Someone should have told us that!"

Now Eric looks angry. "Why? Would it have made you choose differently? Because if that's the case, you should get out now. If you are really Dauntless, it won't matter to you that you could fail. And if it does, then that makes you a coward, which means we'll want nothing to do with you. You chose us. Now we have to choose you."

I lie in bed listening to ten other people's breathing and snoring. I've never slept in the same room as someone else before, much less a boy. Growing up, it was always just my mother and I, so I've never had to share a room before. If I want to be Dauntless, I guess I'll have to get used to it.

I can tell that some of the other initiates are crying, or are trying to hide the fact that they are crying. I, however, refuse to cry here. I also refuse to believe that I will fail. It will be alright here. _I_ will be alright here. If I say it enough, maybe I can convince myself that it's true.

Suddenly, I hear a strangled sob and the sound of someone rolling over in bed. From where the sound is coming from, I can tell that it's one of the Candor initiates, Al. Al is the largest of all of the transfers. I wouldn't have expected him to break down and cry, but I guess you can't judge a book by its cover.

To drown out his muffled sobs, I return to my thoughts. I wonder if I will cut my long, wavy black hair short. Or if I will get a piercing or tattoo that will blend well with my piercing blue eyes and pale skin. Even though I was Amity and outside in the sun a large amount of the time, I somehow avoided getting a tan.

No matter what I do, I feel like I have to do something to feel like I belong here. I have to do something to look the part of being Dauntless. I wonder what my mother will say about whatever my appearance will become when she comes to see me on Visiting Day – if she even decides to come at all. I imagine that she will, since she would probably consider it to be unkind of herself to not come and visit me. I can't allow myself to get my hopes up. I have to accept the possibility that she may not show. The thought makes me want to cry, but I suppress it. I refuse to cry and show weakness, even though no one else can see it here in the dark.

My mind then wanders to the thought of my father. I wonder if I will see him here. It's possible that I'll run into him eventually but, he worked on the fence when he and my mother met, so it's more likely that he'll be out on the fence and not within the compound, especially near the initiates. I've always gone back and forth on whether I want to meet him or not. I know that it's not his fault that he's never been able to see me. I can blame the government for that. But, on the other hand, I just can't help but hate him for never being in my life. Even though I don't know all of the facts about the situation, I feel like he could have fought the government. I feel like he could have tried harder to be a part of my life. Especially considering that mother is Amity, I can't imagine that some sort of compromise would have been impossible. If there's one thing that Amity excels at, it is making compromises.

As a matter of fact, even if I did see him, I wouldn't know that it's him. I don't know what he looks like. I don't even know his name. And, if I do ever meet him, what if he doesn't care about me? What if he wants nothing to do with me? And that is the thought that finally gets me to shed a tear.


	5. Initiation, Day 1

**All rights belong to Veronica Roth.**

We are all standing in a line and Four walks down it, handing us each a gun without looking at us as he goes through his speech. "The first thing you will learn today is how to shoot a gun. The second is how to win a fight. Thankfully, if you're here, you already know how to jump on and off a moving train, so I don't have to teach you that."

It doesn't surprise me that Dauntless want us to start right away, but I still wish that I could have gotten more than a few hours of sleep. I still feel extremely tired. In fact, I think most of the initiates feel the same way. My suspicions are confirmed when Peter asks a question.

"What…" He yawns through his words. "What does firing a gun have to do with… bravery?"

Four flips the gun he has in his hands, presses the barrel to Peter's head, and clicks one of the bullets into place. The yawn that Peter was about to release freezes dead in his mouth.

"Wake up!" Four snaps. "You're holding a loaded gun you idiot. Act like it."

Four then lowers his gun. "To answer your question, you're far less likely to run away crying for your mother if you're prepared to defend yourself."

He turns to face the wall with the targets. There are multiple squares of plywood with three red circles on them for us to shoot at. He stands with his feet shoulder-width apart, holds his gun with both hands, and fires. I'm unprepared for how loud it is. I don't scream, but I definitely jump. When I look at his target, the bullet went straight through the middle circle. After he demonstrates for a few more shots, he sets us loose, and I turn to my own target. I can't help but think what my mother would say about me firing a gun. She would not approve. She would say that guns are used to harm people and are therefore unkind.

I push my mother out of my mind and prepare to shoot. I make my stance, just like Four showed us. Feet shoulder-width apart, with both hands on the gun's handle. It's heavier than I expected it to be and a bit difficult to hold. Reluctantly, I squeeze the trigger. The sound of the gunshot hurts my ears. The recoil, which I'm also unprepared for, sends my hands, and the gun, back towards my face, but doesn't hit. When I look at my target to see where the bullet went, I'm stunned at what I find. The bullet is just centimeters to the left of the center circle.

"How did you do that?" I jump at the sudden question coming from directly behind me. When I turn around, Eric is standing inches away from me. When did he get here?

"I don't know, I just did it." My voice sounds very timid. Why does he have this effect on me?

"You just did it?" He says lightly with a small smirk on his face. He sounds amused.

"Yeah, I just stood like Four showed us and did it." Why does this feel so awkward?

"Do it again." It's not a question, but a command. I hesitate for only half a second before I turn back towards my target. I re-take my position and fire again. This time, I'm a bit more prepared for the noise and recoil. The bullet hits dead center.

"Follow me." He then grabs my arm and we start to head over to the side, but we suddenly stop. He turns back around to everyone else, who have stopped shooting. They're probably just as curious as I am about what he's going to do with me.

"Did I tell you to stop? Keep shooting!" They all immediately turn back to their targets. He then continues to lead me over to the side, where there are more targets, except at a further distance. When we get there, I notice that Four followed us over.

"What are you doing?" he asks, giving Eric a questioning glance.

"She was able to shoot dead center only on her second bullet. I want to see how she does at twice the distance." When he turns back to me, he motions for me to start. I turn to the target, take my position, and fire. It just barely hit the outermost edge of the target. The feeling is more discouraging than I thought it would be. Before I even get a chance to turn around, Eric tells me to keep going. With each shot I fire, I get closer to the center. It takes me four shots before I hit the center.

"Have you ever used a gun before today?" I look back at Eric, confused.

"Of course not."

"You say that like it's obvious."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because guns aren't allowed in Amity. They are used to hurt people so are considered to be unkind." The words rush out of my mouth before I realize I'm saying them. They come out as if they were a memorized speech. They sound exactly like what my mother would say.

"Alright. Good work, Amity." His words make me feel irritated.

"Thank you. And I'm not Amity anymore. I'm Dauntless." Four and Eric look shocked that a sweet little Amity would talk back to a Dauntless leader. I have a sudden feeling of pride that I was able to stun two Dauntless members, with twice my size and strength, into silence. I tense up, waiting for the reprimand for speaking out of turn, but it never comes. Eric takes a step closer to me. I think he means to intimidate me, but he also looks amused.

"Really? You're that confidant that you're going to make it here?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am."

"Ok. Get back in line. Keep working." I nod to him and then re-take my place in between Tris and Christina. With each shot I fire, I either hit the center, or come very close to it. Eventually, everyone else is able to do the same. The thing that shocks me the most is the power I feel from using a gun. It makes me feel powerful to know that I'm able to control something that is so powerful. Something that has the power to do so much damage. Surprisingly, it feels good.

When we finally got to break for lunch, my arms were throbbing from holding the gun up all morning. I noticed that Tris was having the same problem because she was massaging her hands and fingers while we were walking to the dining hall. When we get there, we find a table to sit at with Christina and Al. As I sit with them, I can't help but find it strange that two of my best friends are former Candor. Candor notoriously does not like Amity. They believe that people that seek peace will deceive in order to keep the peace.

"Can I sit here?" says Will, who just snuck up on us.

"Sure, have a seat." I move over to make room for him.

"You don't want to sit with your Erudite friends?" Christina says.

"They're not my friends," says Will. "Just because we were in the same faction, doesn't mean that we are friends. Besides, Edward and Myra are dating and I don't want to feel like the third wheel."

I turn to look at Edward and Myra, the two other Erudite transfers, who are sitting two tables away from us. They are sitting elbow to elbow and pause to give each other a kiss. Next to me, I hear Tris suck in some air. Growing up in Abnegation, she must not be used to public affection.

"Do they have to be so public?" she says.

Al frowns at her and looks confused. "She just kissed him. It's not like they're stripping naked. It's not that big of a deal."

"A kiss is not something you do in public."

Al, Will, Christina, and I all give her a knowing smile.

"What?"

"Your Abnegation is showing," Christina says. "The rest of us are all right will a little affection in public."

"Yeah, especially in Amity, with the whole free love thing. I'm _very_ used to it."

"Oh. Well, I guess I'll have to get over it, then."

"Or, you could stay frigid. You know. If you want." I gape at him. I know I'm not Amity anymore, but I can't help but think that that was an unkind thing to say. I'm about to say something, but Christina beats me to it.

"Don't be mean to her. She can't help it, frigidity is in her nature. Just like being a know-it-all is in yours."

"I am _not_ frigid!" she exclaims.

"Don't worry, it's endearing. Look, you're all red." We all begin to chuckle, and Tris eventually joins in.

After lunch, Four leads us into a new room. It's a very large, grey, dark room with punching bags and elevated platforms. There's also a screen placed at the side of the room. All of our names are listed in alphabetical order on it.

"As I said this morning, you will learn how to fight next. The purpose of this is to prepare you to act and prepare your body to respond to any threats and challenges you are faced with. If you intend to survive life as a Dauntless, these are skills you will need."

Right now, I can't even imagine life as a member of Dauntless. All I can focus on is surviving initiation.

"Today, we will go over technique and tomorrow, you will begin to fight each other. I recommend that you all pay attention because those of you that don't learn fast will get hurt."

Four names some punches and demonstrates them in two ways. First against the air and then against a punching bag. As he demonstrates, I watch him very intently, making sure to take in all of his movements and positions, so I know what to do.

Just like with the gun, I catch on very quickly. The punches aren't so bad, but the kicks are a little more difficult. I'll have to work on those. After a while, the punching bag starts to make my hands and feet sting and turns the skin red. The punching bag also doesn't move much, no matter how hard I hit it. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Four pacing around behind the initiates, watching us. He stops behind Tris and she tenses up. I don't blame her. Four is pretty intimidating, but not as much as Eric can be.

"You're weak." Speak of the devil. I turn around and Eric is, once again, standing right behind me. How does he keep sneaking in and out like that? It's really annoying.

"What?"

"You're weak. And you're small. You don't have a lot of muscle, so you'll be better off using your knees and elbows. You can put a lot of power behind them. You're also fast, so you can win a fight, if you attack first with a quick jab to the throat."

He then presses his hands against my stomach and lower back. I freeze up and my heart begins to pound. "Keep tension here, ok?" I nod and he walks away to watch the other initiates.

Even after he's gone, I can still feel his hands on me. I have to take a few seconds to breathe and compose myself before I can continue practicing.

When Four dismisses us, we head to the dining hall. Once we reach the Pit, Al, who was walking in front of us, turns around. "I want to get a tattoo."

"Of what?" Will asks.

"I don't know. I just want to feel like I've left Candor and stop crying about it. I know you've all heard me."

"Yeah, learn to keep it down, will you?" Christina says as she pokes him in the arm. "But I think you're right. Right now, we're half in and half out. If we want to be all the way in, we need to look the part." She gives Tris and me a look, but it's mostly directed at Tris.

"No, I will not cut my hair. Or dye it a strange color or pierce my face." She sounds very adamant in her decision.

"What about your bellybutton?" Christian asks.

"Or your nipple?" Will adds.

Tris groans, but I can't help but laugh.

Christina says that we will meet Al and Will at the tattoo parlor and then drags us to a clothing store. She insists and helping Tris and I dress better. By the time she is done working her magic, I am wearing a black dress that falls just above my knee and is kind of tight. Tris is wearing a similar dress, except, it is knee-length and isn't as tight as mine is. After Christina is done dressing us, she drags us over to the make-up section. She picks up a black pencil and Tris and I both look at it curiously.

"It's eyeliner."

"You aren't going to be able to make me look pretty, you know." I can tell that being raised Abnegation has affected how Tris views herself. I think she's quite pretty, but she doesn't. I guess that just stems from Abnegation rejecting vanity.

"No one cares about pretty, I'm going for noticeable." After she finishes applying the eyeliner on Tris she does the same for me. She then grabs another stick, but this one is thicker and looks red.

"What's that?" I ask timidly.

"It's lipstick. With your hair, eyes, and complexion, this will look great on you." After she's done applying the color to my lips, I look in the mirror and I'm shocked. All my life, people, especially boys, have told me how beautiful I am. Until now, I've never really believed it, like Tris. But now, for the first time in my life, seeing the make-over Christina has given me, I actually consider myself beautiful. Sexy, even. My blue eyes look even more piercing than they did before and the frame of my hair, along with the make-up makes my features look both softer and more defined than before.

"See, now you're both striking." After we buy our clothes, we head down to the tattoo parlor. When we get there, Al is already sitting in the chair, while the rest of us look around. Christina goes to look at the books of pictures with Will, while Tris and I venture off to look alone.

As I look, I spot a picture of a sun. It immediately reminds me of my mother. Before I can pick it up, someone taps on my shoulder. When I turn around, it's Matt, one of the transfers from Candor. I give him a small, but kind smile.

"Hi Matt."

"Hey, you look great." I blush under his praise.

"Thanks. It's Christina. She thought Tris and I could use a make-over."

"Well, she did a great job."

"Yeah, she did. Did you get a tattoo?" I change the subject in a desperate attempt to get the conversation away from how I look. That is a topic I've never really liked talking about.

He nods and lifts up his sleeve. On his forearm, he has a tattoo of a cobra. It looks very terrifying, but I praise it anyway, my inner-Amity shining through.

"Cool. Very cool."

"Yeah, I've always liked cobras. They're very slick, don't you think?"

"Yeah."

"Are you going to get a tattoo?"

"Yeah, I found this one." I pick up the picture of the sun that I found and show it to him.

"Very Amity of you." He looks serious, but his tone is teasing.

"Yeah, some things you can't really escape, I guess."

"Yeah, so, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, of course."

"What was going on with you and Eric today?" His question took me off guard. If I'm being honest, I've been wondering the same thing too, but I didn't expect him to ask about it.

"I don't know."

"It seemed like he took joy in watching the rest of us struggle, but he was ready and willing to help you." If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Matt sounds and looks just a bit jealous.

"Well, I think it's just that, since I'm from Amity, I don't think he was expecting me to do as well as I did on the first day. I think he's just intrigued, that's all." We then fall into a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. For a moment, I thought that I saw a flash of irritation and anger on his face, but it faded away as quickly as it came.

"Well, I'm going to go. Good luck with the tattoo. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you." Before he goes, he gives me one last look, which goes from my head, down to my feet, back up to my head again. Something about the way he looked at me felt very unsettling. However, before I could dwell on it, something caught my eye. Or rather, someone. When I look back into the Pit, watching Matt leave, I notice Eric standing there, staring at me with his mouth slightly agape. Before I had a chance to react, he walked away. Was he seriously checking me out, or did I just imagine it. I decide not to spend too much time thinking about it, so I take the picture over to one of the technicians and explain what I want.

When he is done, he explains to me how to take care of it, that I have to keep it clean for the next few days to prevent irritation and infection. Before I leave to go to bed, I take a look at it in the mirror. I got the tattoo on my chest, over my heart. The sun is mostly yellow, but its rays turn from yellow to red near the ends of them. This is to signify the two parts of my life: the past, my life in Amity that I had known for 16 years and the present and future, me, now branching out to become Dauntless.

**Author's Note**

**Thank you to all of my lovely readers! I'm proud to say that this is the longest chapter yet. Please leave a review, if you can, for they give me motivation and purpose to keep writing! **


	6. Fights

**Warning: Because of the fights, this chapter contains mild violence. There is also mild language.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it.**

**P.S.: Remember reviews make me smile. ;)**

"Since there's an odd number of you, one of you won't be fighting today," says Four, as he steps away from the screen. Our fights are as follows:

Will – Al

Monica – Myra

Christina – Molly

Peter – Drew

Edward – Matt

Tris –

Tris is lucky, she doesn't have to fight today. I feel kind of lucky too. I'm up against Myra, who's just as weak, if not weaker, than I am. I think I can take her down easily. The Amity in me makes me feel bad for thinking this way, but I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not Amity anymore. I'm Dauntless now, and if I want to stay Dauntless, I have to pass initiation, which involves beating people in fights.

"This isn't good," says Christina. "Look, I'm up against the Tank."

"The Tank?"

"Yeah, Peter's slightly more feminine-looking minion." She nods towards Molly, Peter, and Drew. "Those three have been inseparable since the beginning of forever, practically. I hate them."

"What's wrong with them?" I ask.

"Peter's pure evil. He would always pick fights with people from other factions and then, when an adult would come to break it up, he'd cry and say that the other kid started it. And, of course, they believed him because he was Candor and Candor can't lie." She wrinkles her nose in disgust. "Drew is just Peter's sidekick. I doubt that he has an independent bone in his body. Molly is the kind of person that fries ants with a magnifying glass just to watch them suffer."

Peter, Molly, and Drew take a glance at us and then put their heads back together, whispering.

"I think they know that we're talking about them," Tris says.

"So? They already know that I hate them."

"How?"

"Because I've told them. We try to be honest about our feelings in Candor. Who cares?"

"We just weren't supposed to hurt people," I say, my inner Amity coming out again.

"I like to think that I'm helping them by hating them and reminding them that they aren't God's gifts to mankind." Tris and I laugh a little and then look to the arena. Will and Al stand across from each other in the arena and have their hands up by their faces to protect them, just like Four taught us. Al is half a foot taller than Will and is twice as broad. This fight probably won't last long.

Al punches Will in the jaw. Will stumbles to the side, one hand pressed to his face where he got punched and the other hand up to block Al's next punch. Will then hooks his foot around one of Al's legs, knocking him down. Al scrambles back to his feet.

Al and Will are now just circling each other, looking much more hesitant than before. They both glance at Four, as if they're waiting for him to call off the fight, but he just stands there with his arms folded across his chest.

After a few seconds of their circling, Eric shouts, "Do you think this is a leisure activity? Fight each other!"

"But, when does the fight end?" Al asks.

"When one of you is unable to continue." Eric replies.

"One of you could also concede." Four says.

"According to the _old_ rules. According to the _new_ rules, no one concedes."

"A brave man acknowledges the strength of others." Four replies.

"A brave man never surrenders."

Four and Eric stare each other down for a few seconds. I realize that I am looking at two different types of Dauntless: the honorable kind and the ruthless, bloodthirsty kind.

Eric motions at Will and Al to continue. They keep fighting until Al gives Will one hard punch to the jaw, which knocks him out cold. Eric looks at Will's body like it's the most wonderful thing he's ever seen. He's such a sadistic bastard.

After Four circles Al's name and leaves to help Will to the infirmary, Eric announces the next fight. "Next up, Monica and Myra!"

We step into the arena, both of us looking a bit apprehensive. We both take our stance and circle each other for a few seconds. Surprisingly, Myra makes the first move. She steps forward and swings with her right fist for my face, but is too far away and misses. I grab her arm with my left hand and punch her in the stomach with my right. When she stumbles back and I give her one hard punch to the side of her head, knocking her down and out cold. Initially, I feel pride that I was able to win, but then I look at Eric, and that feeling vanishes. Eric nods at me and gives me a small, cruel smile. I immediately feel sick. How could he be so cold? I walk back over to Tris and Christina when he announces the next fight.

"Next up, Molly and Christina!"

Christina cracks her knuckles as she enters the ring. I want to wish her luck, but I'm not sure how much good it would do. She and Molly are about the same height, but Christina is a bit narrower. It's hard to tell who will win. Molly smirks at Christina and, without warning, drives a hard punch into Christina's midsection. Molly then pins her down and, while Christina thrashes, she can't get free. Molly punches Christina's mouth, nose, and jaw, pretty much any part of her face she can get to. Before I know it, I've grabbed on to Al's arm, desperate for anything to hold on to, to keep myself steady. I look over and see that Tris had the same idea, since she's grabbing onto his other arm. Blood is running down the side of Christina's face and landing on the ground beside her cheek. For the first time in my life, I am hoping for someone to go unconscious. Unfortunately, she doesn't.

She manages to get one of her arms free and uses it to punch Molly in the ear, which throws her off balance so she can get free. She manages to get to her knees and holds her face with one hand. Her fingers are getting covered by her blood and she tries to crawl away from Molly. I can tell by the movement of her shoulders that she is crying and struggling to breathe. Molly kicks Christina in the side, which causes her to fall on her back. I feel so bad for her, I want to go up there and help her, but I can't bring myself to move.

As Molly brings her foot up to kick again, Christina puts up on hand in defeat, while she uses the other to help herself crawl away. "Stop! I'm… I'm done!" Molly smiles and Tris, Al, and I let out a huge sigh of relief. However, my relief is short lived when I see Eric make his way towards the arena.

"You need to stop?" Christina just looks up at him and nods, since she's still trying to catch her breath.

"Ok, let me give you a hand." The way he speaks to her makes my body go on edge once more. He doesn't yell. He speaks very quietly, his words very precise. This makes me terrified. I can tell that he's planning to do something horrible, I just can't tell what. Part of me is too scared to find out. Christiana reluctantly takes his hand and he pulls her up.

"Alright, everyone take a break." He leads Christina towards the door and motions for us to follow.

After we are walking for a while, I realize that we are heading towards the Chasm. This is definitely not good. This uneasy feeling is enhanced when he puts his arm around Christina, and his hand on the small of her back. For some reason, I also feel a little jealous, but I push it away. My feelings aren't important right now.

"Are you feeling a little better?" he asks her in a quiet, gentle tone.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He then grabs her arm, swinging her over the side of the rail, so she's holding onto it with one hand, while Eric's holding the other. She screams and we all gasp, my hands flying to cover my mouth in shock.

"Grab the railing," he says, looking down at her with a cold look in his eyes. "Or don't." He lets go of her hand and she grabs onto the rail.

"You have three options. Hang there and I'll forget your cowardice. Fall and die. Or give up. But, if you give up, you're out." She resolves to hang there. For a while, I don't know exactly how long, Christina seems fine. Her hands are holding the railing firmly and her arms aren't shaking. But then, water from above her falls on her hands and she begins to struggle. The water is making her hands slippery, which makes it hard for her to hold on.

I want to help her, but Eric would probably expose me to the same fate that Christina is suffering through right now. I'm not kind enough to risk my life to save my friend from dying. I'm not even kind enough to try. My mother would probably be ashamed of me for not helping her, because helping her is exactly what my mother would do. If she saw me now and knew what I was thinking, she would probably be very ashamed of me. The thought, along with Christina's plight, causes tears to begin to form in my eyes.

After what seems like forever, Eric calls time and Tris, Al, and I run forward to pull her up. She collapses in Tris and Al's arms, sobbing, while I stand behind her, rubbing her back.

"Dauntless never give up!" He then sends us all back to the training room. Everyone heads back, with Tris and Al helping Christina along, but I stay back, rooted where I stand. I can't bring myself to move.

"Problem, Amity?" I am suddenly able to move again and spin around to look at him.

"Yeah, I have a problem! Why would you do that?" I am seething with rage. He just almost killed one of his initiates, one of my friends, and he doesn't know what my problem is? He's got some nerve!

"As Dauntless, it's our job to protect every single life within the fence without fail. That's an important job, so we train you hard to teach you to never give up. And to see who has what it takes to fulfill the job."

"And making someone hang over the Chasm is how you teach us that?"

"Yes. And besides, she wasn't in danger."

"You made her hang somewhere with a 40 foot drop onto sharp rocks, and you're telling me she wasn't in any danger?!" He takes a predatory step forward and I wait for him to reprimand me, or throw me over the railing for speaking out of turn, but he doesn't.

"Look over the rail."

"Why, so you can push me over?" I scoff at him for thinking that I'm that stupid.

"I'm not going to push you off, just look." I reluctantly comply and look over the railing. I first, I see nothing of significance, but then, I do. I see a piece of rock protruding a few feet away from the wall of the Chasm.

"Is that a ledge?"

"Keep looking. At the bottom." I don't know what he's talking about, and annoyed that he didn't answer me, but I keep looking. Like before, I see nothing at first. However, as I look harder I see something shiny above the rocks. Not from the water, but like it's from some sort of silver painted rope. Wait. I look back at Eric in shock as the realization dawns on me.

"If she fell, she most likely would have landed on the ledge. And, if she was too stupid, and leaned back, she would have fell, but she would have hit the net before she hit the rocks. Like I said, she wasn't in any real danger. I wasn't really going to let her die. I'm not as sadistic as everyone thinks I am."

"So what, you just psyched her out? Psyched us all out? Why?"

"Like I said, part of training is to teach you not to give up. Now, after this, no one will."

"Why are you telling me this? You know that I could just go and tell everyone that this was a trick, don't you?" He takes another step towards me, presses our bodies together and looks me dead in the eye.

"Because, unless I'm reading you wrong, I'm pretty sure that you're not stupid enough to do that. So, I'm trusting you not to. Do I need to regret my decision to trust you?" He has a deadly look in his eyes, one that tells me that I shouldn't push my luck any further. I've already talked back to him enough for one day.

"No."

"Good. Then, if you're done yelling at me, I suggest you go back to the training room and watch your mouth from now on." Without a word, I turn on my heel and march away from him. Part of me can understand why he did what he did, but the other part of me cannot begin to fathom it. I can't believe that, for even just a minute, I allowed myself to be attracted to him. He's a sick, cold-hearted jackass.

**Author's Note**

**So, I have a question for you all. Would any of you be interested in reading a chapter from Eric's point of view? I find it a bit difficult to write in the male perspective, but if you would like it, I could try. Let me know in the review box. Thank you!**


	7. Fights, Day 2

**I'm sorry this chapter is later than usual. I've been busy with college prep before I move in so, I haven't too much time to write lately. I probably won't have much time to write for a while since I'm going to college tomorrow. I apologize in advance for chapter delays.**

**Also, I'm sorry that this chapter probably isn't written very well. I just wanted to get something up before there is a delay in updating.**

**Also, since a couple of you said you would like an Eric POV chapter, I'll give it a shot. I already have one chapter in mind that I could make in his point of view, but that won't be for a while, until we get to the final tests. However, I'll try to figure out somewhere to put his POV before then.**

**Warning: Because of the fights, this chapter contains mild violence.**

**Disclaimer: All of the original characters and plot belong to Veronica Roth**

As I head into the training room, I'm walking behind Tris and Al. They are talking about his fight with Will yesterday. From what I can hear, Al feels really bad for beating up Will and doesn't want to do anything like it again. I feel bad for him. If he doesn't want to fight, then there's no way he will survive initiation. I really hope he gets his act together, unless he wants to end up factionless. Their talking ceases as we walk in and look at the board. Today, our fights are as follows:

Molly – Edward

Tris – Peter

Al – Drew

Monica – Will

Christina – Myra

Matt –

I don't know how I feel about fighting Will. Even though he's my friend, I want to beat him because I want to make it into Dauntless. I decide that I will fight my hardest and let whatever will happen, happen. What concerns me more, however, is that Tris has to fight Peter. Peter is about a foot taller than her and yesterday, he beat Drew in less than five minutes. Today, Drew's face looks more black and blue than skin colored.

"Maybe you can just take a few hits and pretend to go unconscious. No one would blame you," Al suggests.

"Yeah, maybe,"

"Don't worry Tris. I'm sure you'll do fine," I say, trying to reassure her. I know they are only trying to help, but it isn't fair that Christina and Al think that she doesn't have a chance. Yeah, he may be bigger and stronger, but, like me, she is faster. She can use that to her advantage, so she could win.

I turn away from their discussion and watch Molly and Edward fight. He's faster and stronger than she is. I'm positive that he will win. To her credit, she puts up a good fight but, it's not good enough. When Molly finally peels herself off of the arena floor, Peter and Tris are making their way up to fight. Peter has a determined, mischievous look on his face. He's cocky, he knows that he's going to win. I hope that he's wrong, part of me knows that Tris will have hard time winning this fight.

"You okay there, Stiff?" he says. "You look like you're about to cry. I might go easy on you if you cry." Tris goes to kick Peter in his side, but he grabs her foot and pulls it forward, knocking her to the ground. Once her back hits the floor, she pulls her foot free and scrambles back to her feet.

"Stop playing with her," snaps Eric. "I don't have all day." The mischievous look that Peter had on his face disappears. He punches her in the face and then kicks her hard in the stomach, which knocks her to the ground. He grabs her hair and punches her in the nose and then in the ribs as she smacks him, trying to fight back. He then shoves her away from him and then kicks her in the side, which causes her to scream. He kicks her again in the side, seconds after the first, and she passes out. After someone comes to carry her to the infirmary, Drew and Al make their way up to the arena. As they take their positions, I notice that Four left the room. It must have been during Tris' fight. Considering that he is more honorable than Eric, I guess he didn't want to see Tris get beat up. I don't blame him. It was really awful to watch.

As I expected, their fight doesn't last long either but, not for the reason that I expected. Al throws a few punches at Drew but, after a while, I realize that they're weak, sloppy ones. Drew blocks them with ease. I also notice that Al is not even trying to protect his face. This gives Drew an advantage and, not even 20 seconds after the fight began, Drew gives Al one hard punch to the side of his head and knocks him out cold. I guess Al feels worse about his fight with Will than I thought. I hope he doesn't think that that one victory will be enough to keep him in Dauntless, because I don't think that it is. After they carry Al out of the room, it's time for my fight with Will.

When we step into the arena, Will gives me a small smile, one that I return. This is not us being friendly, this is us forming a mutual understanding with each other. Neither one of us wants to hurt the other, but we will each fight our hardest and, no matter who wins and who loses, there will be no hard feelings between us. This is very reassuring.

Will makes the first move, reaching up to punch me in the face. I easily block it and punch him in the jaw. He stumbles back, but quickly regains his footing. He raises his arm up to punch my face again, so I block my face with my hands but, he quickly changes directions and punches me in the stomach, which makes me stumble back. The move makes it obvious that he is former Erudite because it was very clever. Before I can regain my footing, he punches me in the side of my face and I black out.

When I wake up, I'm in the infirmary. The first thing I notice is the pain in my stomach and my head. The feeling reminds me of the last time I was sick. I had a massive head ache and a bad stomach bug. I was so miserable, that my mother, per Amity rules, had to keep stuffing my face with the Amity bread to keep me happy. This feeling isn't quite as bad as when I was sick, but it's close. When I look up, a woman, I'm guessing a nurse, walks in with two paper cups and a pill bottle.

"How're you feeling?" she asks me.

"Alright, I guess."

"Good." She hands me the two paper cups. One has two pills in it and the other contains water. "Take these now, they'll help with pain." She then hands me the bottle. "Take two of these twice a day for the next few days. They should make your pain completely subside within a few days. You can stay here and wait for the medication to kick in before you go."

"Thank you." As she leaves the room, I take the pills. While I lay there, waiting for the pills to work, I look around the room. It is very dark and almost looks like our dorm room, except smaller and only for one person. I am so absorbed in observing my surroundings that I jump when I hear a knock at the door. When I look to see who it is, I see Matt.

"Sorry, it's just me. Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure." I don't know why but, as he approaches my bed, my stomach drops. I don't know if I was hoping he was someone else or if I was just hoping that it wasn't him. For some reason, he makes me feel uneasy.

"So, how're you feeling?"

"I've felt worse."

"I guess that's a good thing. So, I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure, go ahead."

"Do you want me to beat Will up for you?"

"What?!" What the hell is he talking about? Why would he even think that I would want him to do that?

"Well, it's just that he beat you up pretty bad today and I thought I'd get him back for it."

"No. First of all, he didn't beat me up that bad. I'm fine. Second of all, I don't need you to defend me. I can take care of myself. And third of all, I'm not mad at Will. We had a mutual understanding before we fought. We're both trying to make it into Dauntless, so we both are trying our hardest. Honestly, I'm not upset that he beat me and neither should you. He's my friend and I'm glad that he won. You know what. I think that you need to leave."

At first, he looks shocked and confused at my outburst. But then, he just nods and leaves without a word. I can't believe him! The fact that he thinks he needs to defend me is offensive and degrading. I knew that there was something off about him.


	8. The Fence

**I'm sorry that this chapter is shorter and not as good as usual. Since I'm going off to college tomorrow, and will be updating less frequently, I decided to give you two chapters in one day to try and make up for it.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Divergent *sad face*.**

The next day, we all take a trip to the Fence. I'm still fuming over what Matt said. I can't believe that he would even suggest something like that.

When we arrive, Four leads us up the stairs of the Fence until we are a few stories up. I'm now feeling extremely grateful for initiation because, without it, I would probably feel very winded by now. As we're going up, we walk past many Dauntless guards. I notice that one of them stares at me as I pass by. Since I already have enough on my mind, I decide to just ignore him and keep walking.

Once Four finally decides that we've gone high enough, we stop and look out at the Amity farms. As I look at them, I realize that part of me misses Amity. The calmness, the way that nothing was stressful or complicated, pretty much the complete opposite of Dauntless. I unconsciously begin to search for my mother among the fields. For a moment, I think that I see her, but I quickly put the thought out of my mind. _Faction before blood_. This becomes my mantra that I begin to focus on.

"What do you think is out there?" Tris asks.

"Monsters," Christina says.

"Amity farms," I say, like it's obvious, because it really is.

"No, I know. I mean, beyond that."

"Places that never recovered from the war," Will says.

Tris then looks to Four. "Do you know?" she asks him.

"Let's just say they built the Fence for a reason." This makes me feel uneasy. I've never really been curious about what's beyond the fields but, now I am. And, if it's something that makes Four look uneasy, it can't be good. Four then turns to look and address the rest of us.

"If you don't rank in the top five at the end of initiation, this is where you will probably end up. Once you are a fence guard, there isn't much room for advancement, but it's possible. For the most part, those that guard the fence when they are young continue to guard the fence. If it comforts you, some of them insist that it isn't as bad as it seems."

"What rank were you?" Peter asks him.

I don't really expect Four to answer but, surprisingly, he does. "I was first." Wow. I figured that he had a high rank, but I didn't expect him to be first.

"And you chose to do this? Why didn't you get a government job?"

"I didn't want one," he says flatly. I think back to the day I arrived in Dauntless, when he told us that he normally works in intelligence. I can't imagine him sitting in a chair, surrounded by computers. I think that he belongs in the training room.

When we get back down to the ground level, I see Tris having a short conversation with someone from Amity. I vaguely remember him from the Choosing Ceremony. I think that he is a transfer from Abnegation. He must have been a friend of hers. As I watch them, I feel someone tap on my shoulder. When I turn around, I see Matt. I let out a sigh of annoyance. I was _really _trying to avoid this conversation.

"Look Matt, I really don't want to talk to you right now."

"I know but, listen. I wanted to apologize."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You were right. You are perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. I just thought that if I showed you that I cared about you, then you would want to go out with me." What? He wants me to go out with him? Oh no.

"Listen Matt, thank you. That's really nice of you but, I'm not interested in going out with anyone right now."

"That's okay. Maybe we can go out after initiation is over." God, why is he not getting it? My inner-Amity really doesn't want to hurt his feelings but, it looks like I have no choice.

"Matt, I'm sorry, I'm not being very clear. I'm not interested in going out with you. Ever." The look that flashes across his face is painful to see. First, he looks incredibly hurt, then angry.

"Right. I get it. I'll see you later. Or not." He then storms away from me and heads for the tracks to wait for the train back to Dauntless. I let out a huge sigh and bang my head against my hand. Things are about to get very complicated.


	9. Capture the Flag

**It's time for Capture the Flag! Are you all excited, because I am. There is a lot of Meric in this chapter. Meric is what I've been calling Monica and Eric in my head. Is that too weird?**

**Thank you to all of you that reviewed/favorited/followed/read this story. It really means a lot to me.**

**Warnings: Mild violence.**

**Disclaimer: Veronica Roth owns Divergent, not me.**

Today was a hard day. I had to fight Drew. I lost, but the fight went on for a while and I put up a good fight and didn't give up easily so, hopefully, that will give me some points.

Tris had to fight Myra. Obviously, Tris won. I'm happy that Tris was able to put a victory under her belt but, I also feel bad for Myra. She hasn't won any of her fights. I doubt that she'll make it through initiation.

All I want to do is sleep but, the moment that I put my head down, the doors to the dormitory swing open and people file in with flashlights. The light from one of them hits me right in the face and bolt up in bed.

"Everybody up!" The moment I hear the voice, I know that it is Eric. Surrounding him is Four and other Dauntless members. I've seen some of them in the Pit and some of them I haven't.

Eric watches me as I get out of bed. His eyes then roam to Tris, who is still sitting in bed. "Did you go deaf, Stiff?" demands Eric. This snaps her out of her trance and she gets out of bed. Tris and I have always been sleeping fully clothed and, I can tell this will come in handy tonight.

"You have five minutes to get dressed and meet us by the tracks," says Eric. "We're going on another field trip."

I put my shoes on and, after Christina finishes getting dressed, the three of us run up the Pit to the train tracks together.

When we get to the tracks, we make it there behind the Dauntless-born initiates. Once we all make it on the train, Eric tells us that we are playing a game called Capture the Flag and that it is a Dauntless tradition, so we should take it seriously. I've never played before, but it sounds like it will be interesting. Eric then picks up something that looks like a gun, except it's thinner and red. Molly scoffs and looks at Peter. "You call that a gun?"

Eric turns the gun and shoots Molly in the leg. I think that it's a bullet, but it's not. Molly lets out a small scream and falls to the floor of the train.

"Neuro-stim dart. It simulates the pain of a real gunshot wound. The effects only last a few minutes. There will be two teams. Four and I are your captains."

Four looks at Eric and says, "You pick first."

"Okay. Edward." Four looks around at us briefly and then says, "I'll take the Stiff."

"Oh, picking the weak one's so you have someone to blame when you lose." Eric gives Four his trademark smirk. Four smirks back at Eric and says, "Something like that."

Tris walk over to Four, looking very angry. If I were her, I would be mad too. Not only did Four call her a Stiff, but Eric called her weak. I don't blame her for being mad.

"Your turn," says Four.

"Monica." Me? Why does he want me on his team? This is not going to be as fun as I thought it would be.

"Christina."

"Peter."

"Will."

"Molly."

"Drew."

"Al."

"The last one left is Myra, so she's with me," says Four.

Once they're finished picking us, I observe who Eric is choosing, trying to figure out his strategy. I think that I figure it out, but having me on his team derails it. Everyone he picks, other than me, is big and strong. I, however, look more like the people that Four is choosing, small, but fast. I've never played this game before, but I know that this is a game of speed, not brute force. Eric may be more ruthless but, Four is smarter. I no longer feel very confident about this game.

Once Four's team gets off the train, we stay and Eric speaks up.

"In ten minutes, we will get off and pick our location. I suggest you take this time to formulate a strategy. We may not be Erudite, but mental preparedness is one aspect, and arguably the most important aspect, of Dauntless training."

Everyone begins to argue over what to do. I just let everyone yell at each other while I stand back and think. After I stand there for a while, Eric comes over to me.

"Why aren't you arguing with the rest of them?"

"Because I'm thinking."

"What did you come up with? Do you think that we should go and attack Four's team? Because he's probably going to hide his flag at the Navy Pier. That's where he hid it last year."

"No, I don't think we should attack him first. I think that Four would be expecting that from you, so he would keep his flag well-guarded and prepared for an attack. I think that we need to go on defense and wait for them to come to us. I think that we should hide it at the top of the tower. Put a couple of guards around the flag, a couple at the entrance of the tower, and the rest of us should hide behind something and be ready for when Four's team comes."

When I finish, I see something in his eyes. He looks impressed. He gets everyone's attention and tells them my plan, with a few modifications. He doesn't mention that someone should guard the entrance of the tower and only appoints one person, Molly, to guard the flag. I'm pissed that he changed my plan but, I figure that it wouldn't be smart to call him out on it in front of everyone, so I decide to wait until after we're off the train.

When we get to the tower, Eric sends Molly up with the flag to guard it and then puts the rest of us in our positions. He puts all of us in pairs and he pairs me with him. Great. After a few moments of waiting, in our positions, for Four's team to arrive, I decide to speak up.

"Eric, why did you only put Molly up there to guard the flag?"

"Because she can guard it herself."

"And what about not putting and guards at the front entrance of the tower?"

"I told you. Molly can take care of it herself."

"No she can't. She may be strong but, she's also an idiot. She's completely incompetent in doing this job." At this point, Eric begins to stare at me. The stare that tells me that I should probably stop talking.

"Are you questioning my judgment of who's capable of what?"

"Yes, actually, I am." I prepare myself for the reprimand but, it never comes. Just as he opens his mouth to scold me, someone yells that Four's team has arrived. We take our positions and begin to shoot. Some of the others also light up the sparklers to distract, and try to push back, the other team with fire. As I shoot some of Four's team members, mostly Dauntless-born initiates that I don't recognize, I notice out of the corner of my eye that Tris and Christina are running towards the tower. Knowing that the entrance is not guarded, damn you Eric, I do what my instincts tell me, and run after them. However, before I can get very far, someone shoots me in the side and someone else shoots me in the chest. I fall to the ground where I stood, groaning in pain. If this is what it feels like to get shot, I hope that I never have to experience the real thing. The worst thing is that, since I've been hit, I'm out of the game. So, if I can't go help protect our flag, I'm sure that no one will.

When I look back over to where Eric was, he and Four are shooting each other, both dodging the others darts very well. Unfortunately for Eric, Four is just a little smarter than he is and Four is able to shoot him. Once in the thigh and then in the chest.

Moments later, I hear cheering. When I look over at the tower, I see Tris and Christina holding our flag. A feeling of anger begins to course through my body. I knew Molly was incapable of guarding the flag. I'm mad at her but, I'm mostly mad at Eric. He should have listened to me. Just as this thought crosses my mind, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I look up and it is Eric.

"Here, let me give you a hand." He puts his hand out for me to take. When I look into his eyes, I can see that the gesture is genuine but I'm not going to give in.

"Don't bother, I can get up myself."

"Listen, I know you're pissed about losing, but you don't have to be rude."

"You think I'm pissed because we lost? That's not why I'm pissed. I don't care if we lost. I couldn't care less if we lost or if we won. Okay? I know that this is a big Dauntless tradition but it's really just a stupid game. I doesn't matter to me that we lost. You want to know why I'm pissed. I'm pissed because you didn't listen to me. And, we probably could have won if you would have just put your ego aside and listened to me." I'm so angry that I can't even look at him, so I just get up and walk away before he has a chance to respond.

Back at the Pit, we are having an after-party to celebrate Four's teams' victory. I congratulate all of my friends that are on the winning team. I am genuinely happy for them. After we are talking and mingling for a while, I feel someone touch me on the shoulder. When I turn to see who it is, it's Eric.

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, I guess." He probably wants to yell at me for how I talked to him earlier. Reluctantly, I leave my friends and follow him to a quieter corner of the Pit. When we get there, he picks up a plate of chocolate cake and hands it to me.

"What is this?"

"Cake."

"I know that. I mean, why are you giving me this?"

"Consider it an apology."

"You're apologizing to me? For what?"

"I thought about it and you were right. I should have listened to you about Molly and how we should have guarded the tower. We would have won if I had listened to you. So, I'm sorry that I didn't trust you. And, don't take this apology lightly because I don't do it often."

"Wow, um, thank you." I can't believe this. Eric is actually apologizing. To me. What world are we living in?

"Anyways, you should probably get back to your friends." I nod and head back over to them with my cake. As I walk, I wonder if I misjudged him. Maybe he isn't so bad after all. Maybe.


End file.
